Blacks and Palestinians Unite and Unify in Visual Production

Activists in both America and Palestine are lending their voices to a new international cause that connects the streets of the United States, where conflicts between African Americans and law enforcement have intensified and Palestine where conflicts between Palestinians and Israeli forces continue.

They have produced a video entitled "When I See Them I See Us" featuring more than 60 artists and activists who are addressing the issues in both areas of the world, which draws comparisons between the tension in Ferguson, Mo., in the wake of the police killing of Michael Brown and the dropping of explosives by Israel in the Gaza Strip around the same time in 2014.

Organizations including the Dream Defenders, Black Youth Project 100, the DC Palestinian Film and Arts Festival and the Arab Studies Institute collaborated on the project. Which also brought together artists like Danny Glover, Lauren Hill, LisaGay Hamilton and Alice Walker.

“Palestinians have spoken out passionately against racist police violence in Ferguson and Baltimore as black people have vehemently stood up in defense of (Arab American Action Network associate director) Rasmeah Odeh," said activist Angela Davis in a statement from the group. "That the Palestinian people have refused to surrender after almost seven decades of continuous struggle against Israeli settler colonialism is a great encouragement to black people in the U.S. to accelerate our ongoing struggles against racist state violence. These powerful images represent a journey from struggle against tyranny to a collective hope for a just future.”